09/06/12

Has your website been pecked by Penguin or pawed by Panda? Here are a few tips on how to get your websites listings back on track. First off, what is Google Penguin and Panda? These are two new algorithms that were introduced in April 2012, and have caused a lot of problems for websites all over the Web.These algorithms put tighter guidelines on the optimization of websites and tweaked a number of methods used for web spam, including keyword stuffing, cloaking, unnatural links and content spinning.

Contrary to what many of us think (and what it feels like), Google’s aim isn’t to run amuck with algorithm updates and discipline every site until they are the only ones left on the internet. They just yearn for the web to be a better place, and want to provide their users with the best websites for their desired search and they do this by pushing sites who do things right and by the book to the top of the SERPS.

To ensure that your website is not penalized by future algorithms, here is what you can do to help, and what you should avoid:

1. Build up your content

Add a blog that you can update regularly. Have a news section so you can tell your clients what’s new and what’s changing. Any of these ideas are useful and if you can think of any more ways to boost your content, then go for it! Good, rich content will always keep you in Googles good books, but a word of warning, don’t plagarise, it must be unique

2. Make use of Google Analytics and Webmaster tools

These two applications give us an insight into where our websites do best. From which search results give us the most traffic, to the bounce rate of the visitors that arrive on our websites. This is like a look into the belly of the beast, and with Webmaster tools assisting you with your errors; you’ll be well on your way. If you need help setting up analytics or webmaster tools or require some training then please give us a ring on 0115 896 7715.

3. Keep an eye on your keywords

Too much optimisation can definitely be a bad thing. Having too much repetition of a keyword is is counted as spam, so here are a few tweaks you can make to ensure you’re keeping your keywords relevant and organic;

Use relevant pictures on your website, and make sure you’ve filled in their ALT tags. By using relevant images, the ALT tags should include your keywords.

Know what keywords you want to use and incorporate them into your content, not the other way around. This can make your content look suspicious and could result in penalization.

4. Expand your link construction

Back in the day, as soon as everybody found out that using keywords in the anchor text of links and back links reaped huge dividends in where you ranked, they soon rushed to stuff their links with keywords. Stopping keywords stuffing and link spamming is exactly what these two algorithms are designed to do, so try to think of different ways to get your keywords into your links. Why not try using Non-descriptive links? Having links like: “Click here!” “Visit us here!” using an image but with a relevant alt tag are great ways to include your keywords whilst keeping your layout looking natural.

5. Definitely avoid Spamming, Spinning and Cloaking

Cloaking is creating a different version of your website and submitting it to search engines and clients in order to improve rankings. Content spinning is taking one of your already live blog articles, copying it, making a few slight changes and submitting it. This isn’t posting new content and therefore qualifies as trying to play Google’s ranking systems.

If you need help recovering from any of Google recent updates or would like a days training on Search Engine Optimisation/inbound marketing to help increase your business visibility on the web then ring us on 0115 896 7715, email us on hello@landingnet.co.uk or fill out out contact form

06/21/12

With more and more internet users around the world using their mobiles and other portable devices to surf websites, designers and developers of these websites are no longer able to assume that what they create will be viewed specifically and exclusively on average resolution computer monitors.

The Solution

Web designer Ethan Marcotte has come up with the solution to this ever growing problem; Responsive Web Design. Whereas before web designers had to build separate sites for each mobile device, they are now able to build one single site that adapts itself to each of these devices. To read an explanation from the man himself, click here.

Owners of mobile devices expect to be able to access websites just as easily as they do on their PC or laptop and that is driving the demand for responsive web design.

The images show an example of a responsively designed website theme. As you can see from the first picture on the right, this is the website as you would see it on your computer or laptop monitor. The second picture on the right is what the website would look like if it is accessed via a mobile device such as a phone or an internet browsing tablet. You can see this in action by looking at these examples on your PC and then resizing the browser window, or try looking at it on a tablet and turning it on it’s side.

Responsive Web design doesn’t only cater to devices with smaller screens as more and more people are browsing the web using widescreen TV’s and by developing the website in this way we can ensure that the usability and visitor experience is as good on a smart phone as it is on a 50 inch monitor.

One of the first key ideas of responsive web design is using something called a fluid grid. In the web design world, using a ‘liquid layout’ when creating a webpage that expands with the page hasn’t been as widespread as creating fixed width layouts. But in recent years, with the ever growing demand in the market for internet tablets, mobile devices and larger monitor screen resolutions there are more and more reasons why using fluid grids is not only easier, but also more beneficial.

In the not too distant future, maybe all websites will be created using responsive web design. You as a user can expect to see this method of web design more and more often, and next time you’re surfing on your tablet or mobile device, you’ll be able to see which websites are created using responsive web design and which are not!

If you would like to talk to us about creating a site for you that will cater for every device that modern technology can throw at it then give us a ring on 0843 289 0120 or send an email to info@landingnet.co.uk

04/27/12

In the last few days, Google has rolled out yet another update to their search algorithm, and it’s one that promises to reward ‘high quality’ websites. The change will reportedly affect just 3% of English language web searches (as opposed to the 10% that the Panda update hit a year or ago), and is designed expressly to weed out so-called ‘spammy’ websites and those that exist to take advantage of Google’s ranking system.

Who is affected by the change?

This is great news for honest hard-working webmasters and terrible news for practitioners of blackhat SEO. Even in their post announcing the update, Google’s Matt Cutts gives examples of the types of websites that will be negatively affected – including sites that are stuffed with keywords and others that offer no real value to visitors. The ‘made for Adsense’ sites that you see dotted around the web are the types of websites that will no longer be making an appearance in Google’s index – and that’s great news not only for honest website owners, but also for the people searching – because quality content will once again rise to the top. The new algorithm update applies to all websites regardless of niche or industry, so whether that be a truck insurance company running a logistics site or a fashion blog, the same rules will be in place from now on.

How whitehats will benefit from the update

Google has said time and time again that the very best way to achieve search engine success is to add quality, unique content that people will actually want to read. Every change that Google makes to their algorithm is another step towards this objective, and this update is no exception. Because of the way that Google ranks sites, there has been a large focus on generating huge volumes of backlinks for sites. In fact, all you have to do is hop onto a site like Fiverr to see how many people are selling thousands of backlinks for just a few dollars. The problem lies in the fact that these are almost always spammy backlinks that do nothing but make a site look much worse in Google’s eyes. These lazy and cheap blackhat solutions very often result in being penalised by Google and losing rankings. Whitehat SEO practitioners on the other hand, who work hard to generate real backlinks from other relevant sites, will benefit from a boost in the rankings now that all (or at least some) of the spam has been filtered out.

What does this mean for ongoing SEO efforts?

The message that Google is giving out couldn’t be clearer: if you want to rank highly in their search engine, you need to play by the rules. That means that any SEO effort that has cut corners, either by generating spammy backlinks or using private blog networks (like the now de-indexed BuildMyRank), will be punished (fairly, some would say), whereas ‘genuine’ tactics will be rewarded. All of the sites out there that pay their writers a fair wage to generate quality unique

Slash might be a brilliant guitarist but don't let him near your website with a hat like that!

content should see a benefit from this update. This doesn’t mean that articles can’t still be optimised for search engines; of course they can. It simply means that obviously blackhat tactics like keyword stuffing and spamming backlinks will result in de-indexing. Articles can still be written with a keyword or phrase in mind, and still have the same levels of keyword densities – you just need to be careful to keep within Google’s guidelines and focus on quality, not quantity.

How to avoid being penalised by future algorithm updates

If you’re worried about this update, or about any that Google may implement in the future, you could well benefit from a quality SEO service like the one we offer here at LandingNet. The service is all about employing legitimate SEO tactics that stay firmly in the ‘whitehat’ camp while still achieving the search rankings boost you’re looking for. We’ll make sure that your site stays on Google’s good side. The world of SEO has always been one that changes on a dime, so being on board with a service like ours can help give you the confidence and peace of mind you need to climb the rankings without risking the longevity of your web presence.